In our last installment, our heroes played with fire, all over the Charnival. Today, they go on a quest to the land of test pattern, where happy colourful creatures abound.

First, S disguises herself as a test pattern creature, and practices the dance they are famous for:

Our heroes consulted with the wandering art piece ‘Desert Flower’, which told them to consult with the Contraptionists. It mentioned that the Contraptionists would be better able to direct them to the test pattern creatures, as the creatures often stopped there because of the brightly coloured snow cones:

It also offered suggestions for traveling bicycle music[0]:

Once there, S performed her best test pattern impression, and our heroes sat down to wait (and consume snow cones):

Here, you can see the Contraptionists, hard at work shaving ice:

Luckily, there was another guide our heroes met. One of the Contraptions had a clue. Once S had performed the call sign ( 😛 ), it said that ‘the secret is hidden between the wizard staves’:

Remembering events from 2013[1], our heroes started to make their way back to camp, to consult with the wizards there. On the way, they became lost in a sandstorm, when a peculiarly unseasonable windstorm arrived out of nowhere. Luckily, The Queen Dick was there to offer a landmark:

Also on the way back, our heroes encountered an encoded message of some type. Unsure of what it meant, they documented it, and proceeded back to camp to find the wizards:

Back at camp, they consulted the wizards, who mentioned that when crossed, two full-powered Wizard’s Staves would open a portal to the test-pattern dimension. Then then talked of the rituals that they would have to endure to unleash their full power. After mentally preparing themselves, they settled in to each drink themselves a Wizard’s Staff.

First was Longship, proudly wearing his Totenkitten cape:

Then was the brave DB, with his impressive Wizard’s Staff:

Together, they battled through many obstacles, until finally the staves were built. But that is a story for another time.

Stay tuned next time for night four, climbing edition!

[0]Note that these two videos were auto-stabilized by YouTube. What do you think?

[1]This was not the first occurrence of ‘Wizard’s Staff’.

[2]Wizard’s Staff (Burning Man edition) is a game played in two stages. During the first stage, the wizards-in-training consume beer (Tecate[3] is preferred), duct-taping the new beer each time to the top of the eponymous ‘Wizard’s Staff’. Once they feel they have consumed adequate amounts of beer, the second stage begins. The second stage involves bicycle jousting, using the above-mentioned Wizard’s Staves (not pictured).

[3]Tecate is a unique part of the Burning Man experience. Often the only beer left in stores, it is purchased and brought to playa in great quantity. For the unique playa experience, it is best served warm.